3rd Trimester
RussianMommy
member
WWYD re: BF
RussianMommy
member
Posting for a friend.... she had her 2nd baby 3 months ago and wants/needs to up her supply. They are a low income family, so even renting a pump at $90/month is a lot for them. We are in Canada, so our health care and insurance is different than the states. They have already looked into their options as far as coverage goes. She ended up buying a really cheap manual one and she said it's not good. I've told her about those lactation cookies and the tea that helps promote breast milk - not sure if she's tried it yet. She really wants to keep breastfeeding - what else can she do?
TTC since May 2012;
BFP July 31st, 2012; EDD April 13th, 2013
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Re: WWYD re: BF
When is she using the pump? After nursing? I would pump after nursing to boost supply and she can also try power pumping, which is pumping for 10 min, taking a 10 min break, pumping 10 min, etc. for an hour (though I'm not totally sure how that would work with just a single pump since I used a double when I did that).
Other things to try are fenugreek which you can get pretty cheaply from Amazon, dark beers, oatmeal. She also needs to make sure she's eating enough and drinking plenty of water.
not sure when she pumps - they just got it... she just told me they bought a 2nd pump and this one is an electric one. she hates oatmeal, but i told her it's been known to boost supply...
Is there anyway that she can go and see a lactation consultant that can help her?
I'm in Canada (Ontario) and I didn't know this until I took a breast feeding class but if she were to see a lactation consultant (covered by OHIP here) they could be able to help her.
The class that I went to is in a building that caters to low income families and besides breast feeding classes it offers classes once you've had the baby, prenatal classes, counseling, etc. I found them looking for breast feeding classes.
One of the girls in the class (expecting her 3rd child) said she had a similar situation like your friend and she went to the doctors, who set her up with a lactation consultant that worked out of the hospital. What they ended up doing was hooking her up to the pumps they have there (ones you could rent I'm assuming) to get her supply up. She didn't say much about the process and such except she was adamant that no formula be given to her son (doctor kept trying to get her to use formula it was easier, her son was around 2 months or so) and after seeing the consultant and working through it she was able to breast feed her son till 14 months.
It's worth a try to see if it does work. If not then is it possible for her to get a different pump and see if that helps? Maybe an electric?
All of this. Also, how often is she nursing? The more often she can breastfeed, the better.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
If you google "Stanford University Breast Feeding Videos" there is a fabulous video on using hand expression while you pump. Much greater stimulation and some of the mom's actually get double the milk!
She can aslo try getting support through La Leche League.
No no no to buying used retail pumps. The system is not closed and it's not sanitary. Only hospital grade pumps are closed and ok, but those cost 1500 bucks new. My lactation consultant said Using one from a best friend or family member is okay because you know them and their health history, and you just replace all the parts, but getting them from online or a stranger is a no go.
She could buy the Ameda Purely Yours online. That's a closed system retail pump.
Charlotte Ella 07.16.10
Emmeline Grace 03.27.13
Thx for pointing out Ameda, that's good to know. I was responding to the PP referring to Medelas for 40 bucks online. There's a reason they are that cheap!
If someone is on a budget and going by price first, they could easily get an open system bc they don't know better.